A pair of former Iowa Hawkeyes men’s basketball stars just inked new NBA deals. Luka Garza signed with the Minnesota Timberwolves and Joe Wieskamp re-signed with the San Antonio Spurs.
Garza appeared in 32 games with the Detroit Pistons last season, averaging 5.8 points on 44.9% field goal shooting and 3.1 rebounds per game. The former Naismith Trophy winner averaged 20.6 points on 51.8% shooting and 9.5 rebounds per game with the Pistons’ G-League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise. Still, he was released by Detroit following last season and spent this summer with the Portland Trail Blazers’ summer league team.
While the terms of the agreement were not released, Garza joined forward CJ Elleby in signing with the Timberwolves on Tuesday. Garza was originally drafted No. 52 overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2021 NBA draft.
Meanwhile, Wieskamp is re-signing with the Spurs. San Antonio did not release the terms of the contract, but ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski is reporting that it’s a two-year, $4.4 million deal.
Wieskamp averaged 2.1 points on 35.7% field goal shooting and 32.6% 3-point shooting in 7.1 minutes per game during his rookie season with San Antonio. He also appeared in 28 games for the Austin Spurs, where he averaged 15.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.11 steals in 32.4 minutes in the NBA G League.
Wieskamp was taken by San Antonio with the No. 41 overall selection in the 2021 NBA draft after averaging 13.2 points per game on 41.2% 3-point shooting during his career with the Hawkeyes.
Of course, Keegan Murray has been impressing this summer as well. Murray won the NBA 2K23 Summer League MVP and it made social media go wild. All of this was no surprise to his former head coach Fran McCaffery.
“They knew exactly what they were getting and they were excited about him from the beginning. Not only in terms of his character and his complete skill set, but I think the fit with the other guys on the team, what coach (Mike) Brown wants to do.
“I am thrilled for him in every way. I’m thrilled for the organization. I think it’s safe to say we look at this team as a playoff team. It’s not easy in the West as we know, but I think the way that this team has been put together has been really impressive. I was equally impressed today with Jordi’s workout, the stuff they were doing, the intensity level with which they approached everything and the way the young guys have picked up things that they’re trying to do. I can’t imagine a better fit for Keegan Murray,” McCaffery said of Murray’s play in the Summer League back in July.
Contact/Follow us @HawkeyesWire on Twitter, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Iowa news, notes, and opinions.
Follow Josh on Twitter: @JoshOnREF
Let us know your thoughts, comment on this story below. Join the conversation today.
.